Where Austria and Germany Meet

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Austria and Germany share a 784 kilometer long border so there are many points at which they meet but this blog is about one specific point...the area near Salzburg, Austria and Berchtesgaden, Germany.  Tom and I traveled there for a long weekend in early May.  We had a wonderful trip and enjoyed incredible weather the WHOLE time!  I already wrote a blog specifically focusing on the sites we saw related to The Sound of Music.  I've got lots of pictures to share so I'll try to keep descriptions short and sweet.

Meet our two featured locals
View of Salzburg from Hohensalzburg Fortress
View of Berchtesgaden from Eagle's Nest
Salzburg if you didn't know is the home of Mozart.  He was born in Salzburg in 1756.  
Mozart's Birthplace in Old Town
Mozart's Residence in New Town
Mozart's original piano
Mozartplatz in Old Town
Mozart's Birthplace is located on the famous Getreidegasse.  This was old Salzburg's busiest and most colorful thoroughfares.  It is famous for its old wrought-iron signs and the street still looks, architecturally, much like it did during Mozart's time.  New shops have to have wrought-iron signs made.
Salzburg's Getreidegasse
We journeyed up to Hohensalzbrug Fortress, which is built on a rock called Festungsberg, 400 feet above the Salzach River.  You have two options to get to the top - hike or via funicular.  We elected for the funicular but when we stopped in to buy our tickets they told us it was free that day and so we got a ride to the top and access to the fortress for FREE!  Gotta love that.
Funicular
Hohensalzburg Fortress and horse fountain
Inside the Fortress
Reading up on Salzburg at a cafe on the walls of the fortress
Awe..look at those Alps!
After we left the fortress we took the Monchsberg Walk.  It took us along the cliff and we got some great view. 
Different view of the fortress
The water in the river was so clear and crystal blue.
Salzburg at night
The night photo above was taken when we were walking back to our room after a chamber music concert in Mirabell Palace.  I didn't take any pictures during the concert but I did take some inside the building and the performance hall.
Statue on the stairwell leading to the performance hall
It was a quartet - 2 violins, 1 viola and a cello
Some more pictures around Salzburg.
A festival and behind that is Salzburg Cathedral
Salzburg Cathedral was consecrated in 1628 - Mozart was baptized here
The cathedral was built in 14 years
Salzburg Cathedral and golden orb in Kapitelplatz
Tom asked why I didn't share pictures of my luge run when I did my earlier post so I thought I'd share them here.  During our drive into the Lake District our Sound of Music tour guide stopped at a Sommerrodelbahn (summer toboggan run) to give us the opportunity to do the course. 
Up we go
Still a little ways to go
Here I come
After our three nights in Salzburg, before heading home, we stopped in Berchtesgaden, Germany.  Berchtesgaden is the name of the region, as well as the name of an alpine ski town, which is just 12 miles south of Salzburg.  It's a beautiful vacation spot but also has linkages to Nazi history.  Hitler's linkages to this region go back to the 1920s.  After he was released from prison he checked into a hotel in this area and finished writing his memoir and Nazi primer, Mein Kampf.  This area also served as his retreat once he was the German Fuhrer.     

Today the Obersalzberg complex includes the Eagle's Nest, the Nazi Documentation Center and Hitler's extensive bunker system.  The documentation center is a very thoughtful museum that doesn't hold back when it describes the horrors of the Nazi regime.   Walking through the bunker system is worth your time too.  The center offers free admission to military service members...just show your ID.
The center has no actual artifacts but has lots of information.
Construction on the bunker system began in 1943 once Hitler realized things were not going his way.
A mountaintop chalet is the actual Eagle's Nest.  It was presented to Hitler in 1939 on his 50th birthday.  He was scared of heights so he didn't visit it very often, choosing instead to stay at lower elevations.
Views were amazing.
Closer view of the Eagle's Nest
Marble Fireplace dated 1938 in the main dining room
Looking up at the Eagle's Nest from hiking trail
There is an elevator that you ride up to get to the Eagle's Nest.  We had some extra time at the end of our visit so we decided to walk the trail down to where the buses picked us up and took us back to the center. 
Wonderful end to a great trip!


 

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